16. Dax
DAX
In the morning, I decided that it would be best to forget everything that had happened in the past week with the Phantom Saints and deal with my problems. Wes took me by the house to get my bike and stop by my gun safe to restock on ammo and the like.
Then we headed out to the shipping docks, which housed our biggest warehouse that we worked out of, and my headquarters for the Hidden Empire.
The security guards waved us by as we arrived.
We continued through, weaving our way through all the shipping containers.
Everything was loud—people yelling over engines, forklifts honking as they zipped around, and of course the massive freightliners that were getting loaded, signaling their departure.
It was a world of its own and one that could turn on you if you didn’t watch your surroundings.
When we pulled up to the low, white building that was ours, I parked. The moment I cut the engine, Brian was there to greet me.
“Dax, it’s good to see you, boss.” He grinned, making him seem slightly less intimidating.
Brian was my right-hand man when it came to enforcement issues.
He was average height, but he was built like a brick house and smart as a fox.
He and Jeff had both been the perfect blend of muscle and smarts—not easy to find in this line of work.
Now I was going to have to find someone to replace Jeff and it wasn’t something I was looking forward to.
“Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” I asked as we headed into the warehouse.
“You mean besides the fact that the De León Cartel is after you, and word on the streets is that the Mad Dogs are helping them?”
I paused and looked up at him. “I’m sorry about Jeff. I know he was like a brother to you. Have you spoken to Kate? Everything okay with the baby?”
“They had the funeral a few days ago, thanks for handling it. There was no way that Kate could have managed that with a newborn,” Brian said, gripping my shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze.
Sneaking a glance at Weston, knowing he was the one who’d most likely taken care of that matter, I nodded to Brian.
“He died because of me. It’s the least I can do to support his family.
His wife will also continue to get his paychecks until that kid is eighteen.
Jeff always wanted to be a dad, so I’ll make sure they’re provided for.
” Clearing my throat, I kept moving further into the space toward my office.
“Send out the call to all the underlings that we will be having a meeting tonight here at ten. This is nonnegotiable. They either show up or they better hide real well where I can’t find them.
Wes will be informing the others, so they know we’re not fucking around. ”
“What do you want me to tell them if they ask what it’s about?” Brian asked.
I placed my hand on the scanner that locks my office and looked him dead in the eye. “Changes are coming.” I shoved open my door and walked into my space.
My office was much like my tattoo shop with black, white, and red splashed around the place and some abstract art that I painted.
My desk was something you would see on the set of The Adams Family with its Victorian flair, painted a glossy black, with white drawers and the leather chair behind it.
Technically, this started out as Tricks’ office, but since I’d killed off the guy who played Tricks in the beginning, I took it over and the big boss man worked from a secret location—for security purposes, of course.
Now that I look back on it, I’m amazed that I kept it quiet for so many years.
It probably helped that I would kill anyone who found out and tried to blackmail me about it, or if the rumors started, I would put them to rest one way or another.
Being able to work in plain sight had made controlling this empire so much easier and built even more fear of Tricks himself...
well, herself. Yet that era was coming to an end, and it was time for me to take my rightful place as the known leader of the Hidden Empire.
“You sure about this, Dax?” Weston asked as he sat in the chair opposite of me. “It might be risky to draw that big of a crowd when you don’t know how people will react.”
“Really, because they all know how I’ll react?” I answered, quirking a brow at him. “If I have to clean house, I’ll do it. We can’t have people who aren’t loyal while we’re at war. Besides, I have a network far bigger than anyone in the Empire besides us knows about.”
“True. Do you want me to call the entire West Coast crew out here for this meeting?”
“If they want to remain part of our Empire, then I would highly suggest our West Coast members make it to this family chat,” I stated.
My grasp of the West Coast went all the way to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada and even to Alaska.
My whole business was getting what you needed where you needed it and all these places served one of those purposes.
Yes, Los Angeles was the largest hub, but I didn’t like to flaunt my power unless I needed to—better to have people underestimate you.
This is why I’m so surprised that Diego is making his move.
The man owns the East Coast and has a better foothold in Mexico than I do.
Sure, I was the biggest roadblock, but we were a whole continent away from each other.
For him to kill his own son just to blame me, told me there was something bigger at work that I just hadn’t thought of.
Was he bringing another power to the rise?
Did he hope that by taking me out, he could gain favor from this new player in town?
“Wes, I think we need to take a look worldwide to see who’s getting restless.
All this doesn’t add up. Why would a cartel boss like Diego work with an MC, of all people, to get rid of me?
I know his first plan was to blow us up from the inside out, making my people turn on me, but when that didn’t work, he sent the Mad Dogs,” I mused, tapping my fingers on the desk.
“It makes perfect sense why the Mad Dogs want me. They would then get power over the Empire. I’m just not seeing Diego’s reasoning. ”
“No problem, I’ll reach out to some of my contacts and see if there are any whispers on the dark web,” Wes assured me as he left the office to go work on his own.
Booting up my computer, I opened the encrypted connection to the Empire database and started reviewing transactions from the last week.
Before I knew it, I was lost in the flow of information and checking on things that had been left off to Tricks to decide, that Wes wouldn’t have been able to handle.
There were some vendors that were only willing to work with me directly, which made sense since I fostered the connection.
“Levin, why are you holding up the shipment of PKPs? I have a buyer who is getting upset with me for backing out of the deal. Now, why would he think I’m the one who is backing out?” I demanded, watching Levin’s face on the monitor when he answered my call.
“Why would I know, kroshka? I reached out to the man who take the gun to the train, but he not show. Then I try to reach you and you don’t call me back. What I suppose to think, eh?” Levin groused.
Levin was in his sixties and has been my Russian arms dealer for years. He’s never screwed me over before, so when I discovered this deal hadn’t gone through, I was shocked.
“You know that if you can’t reach me that you’re supposed to contact Weston. He is my right hand, and knows all the deals we have going on,” I challenged.
“Ack, kroshka that durachok,” he spat, waving a dismissive hand. “He can do nothing but type on computer. No respect for the way things used to be. No, I speak to you. Why didn’t you answer me? This was days ago.”
“I was away on an unexpected business trip, and I wasn’t in a place I could speak freely. I know how much you value your privacy.”
“Da, then it’s good you back, now we can make deal.” Levin nodded and stood from his chair to grab something, making me almost seasick with all the motion.
I grabbed the energy drink from my desk and took a few gulps, rubbing my forehead, waiting for Levin to settle himself.
I was surprised this video call had been going so well.
He had a habit of fucking something up along the way.
Levin was all but a Luddite in his hatred toward technology, but he suffered through it to keep his business running.
When we first started working together, I used to have to fly out and meet him with the new client proposal, before Wes taught him how to use the laptop we got him.
“Ah, here it is,” Levin shouted, as he sat proudly in front of the screen.
He was holding up a sniper rifle that had me leaning forward to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. “Where did you get that?!”
“Eh, eh, eh, not all secrets are to be shared, kroshka.” Levin smiled. “I make you good deal if you find buyer willing to take them. I have one hundred, all modified with new technology firing chambers that is not on market. These fell off very special truck, you see.”
“Yes, I want them, what’s the deal?”
“See, I knew you like dis gun, maybe you want one for yourself? Start new hobby?” Levin chuckled. “Word is that trouble is coming for you, kroshka, and I do not want to lose best customer, eh.”
“Got any other goodies I should know about?”
“You want tank? I got a one out back if you like—”
“Not quite what I was thinking. You forget we can’t fight that dirty here on US soil.”
“A huy li? Dis makes no sense,” Levin mutters as he looks around his office. “If you don’t want tank then what about rocket launcher?”
“Sounds like I better just stick to the rifles then, Lev.” I smirk, knowing that his suggestions would only continue to be outlandish. “Hey, do the whispers say what kind of trouble is coming my way?”
Levin paused and set aside whatever he was going to show me to put his face way too close to the camera. “No, kroshka, but trouble that is this quiet is never good. Like wolf stalking bunny, you don’t know it there till you dead.”
“Well, isn’t that comforting,” I mumble to myself. “Who else has been hearing these sorts of things?”
“Hmm, I hear from Taaj. He told me he hear from Cheng, at the docks.”
“You people are worse than a bunch of babushkas sitting around knitting,” I tease. “How do I know you don’t spill our clients?”
Levin slammed his fist on his desk. “Blayt, you know better than that. I would have no business if I talked about our deals, not even going to the Black Dolphin Prison would get it out of me.”
“Okay, okay, calm down, Lev. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned your professionalism after all these years. One can’t be too careful with a wolf hiding in the shadows, as you warned.”
Appeased, he settled down. “Good, now when is the new exchange for first deal, then we talk about second deal, da?”
“For the first deal, do I need to find another way to get them to Austria? This time, I plan to send someone to personally guarantee that it gets to where it needs to.”
“Das is good if you can get someone to babysit the shipment on the train, then I don’t have to charge more.”
I nodded in agreement. He was being exceptionally fair with an issue that I didn’t manage well, while being kidnapped and all. “How long have you been sitting on that inventory?”
“Too long. I need it gone so I can get new things. This deal good for us both. Now the sniper rifles, these will take much more skill to sneak them into the US, they are banned you know.”
“Yes, I know, that’s why they will fetch a high price, even more with the modifications,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “What do you want for them?”
“A favor…”
This caught my attention. Levin never asked for favors, because that meant one of these days, I might do the same.
“What’s the favor?”
“I need to get my granddaughter to America before my balvan of a son can sell her off to cover his debts. He is in deep to the Russian Mafia, and they want their pound of flesh. She is only sixteen, that is no life for her. She good girl, headstrong, but good girl—like you,” Levin explained.
I knew his son was a bastard, but no one wants to believe they will sell their children to cover for their mistakes. “How long do I have to get her out if I agree?”
“My son has until the end of the month to make good on his debt, or they take her.”
Turning, I looked at the calendar on my phone, noting it was only ten days into the month, leaving twenty-one days to get her out… if I could.
“Tell me everything you can about who your son is in debt to, as well as information on her. I’ll also need a picture so if I do try and pull this off, I have what I need to get her papers out of the country.
Give me a few days to think this over and see what it will take to make it happen.
Right now isn’t the best time for me to plan a rescue mission and deal with my own problems,” I warned.
“Then you should know that she was selected by the Russian military to be an infiltrator, but I’ve stalled them with just giving her basic training.
She is able to take care of herself and can easily play American, but this is another reason they cannot have her.
Think of what could happen if they had someone like her working for them.
She would be their best assassin. No one would be safe.
My little malishka deserves to have the chance at a normal life. ”
Now Levin was just playing at my heartstrings. “I will give you an answer as soon as I can. Let me know when the drop will take place for the first order, and I’ll have someone there.”
“Da, we will speak soon, kroshka.”
I ended the call and flopped back into my chair. What was I going to do about this situation?